To Walk In Balance
by Aunt Bran
Summary: A love story - how Billy met Sarah when they were 17 and 15. Also a tale of character and pride. Billy Black comes from a long, proud line of chiefs and he wants to be like his grandfather, Ephraim Black.


_According to the Native People, the Sacred Space_

_is the space between exhalation and inhalation._

_To Walk in Balance is to have Heaven (spirituality)_

_and Earth (physicality) in Harmony._

Billy Black was a shy kid. At seventeen, he'd never actually dated, though most of the girls on the reservation found him attractive. He was just short of six feet tall, well built, and ruggedly handsome, with the proud bearing of a future chief. He'd discovered sex along with the rest of his friends a few years back, but he'd never had a partner other than his own right hand. He'd gone on movie dates a few times, usually with a group, occasionally with a girl from his class - never the same one twice. But spring was in the air, and he was restless. He found himself daydreaming as his grandfather swung out of the passenger seat and started across the beach. "Billy!"

"Coming, Grandpa!" Billy snapped out of his reverie and ran across the sand to catch up with Ephraim Black, his paternal grandfather. Ephraim was chief of his Quileute tribe, and he looked the part. He had long salt-and-pepper braids with a beaded turkey feather strategically laced to one braid by a soft deerskin thong. The old man settled onto the sand in the place of honor and looked around the campfire before speaking. Billy slipped in beside his father, Billy Senior, and held his breath, anxious to hear the ancient legends again, recited in his grandfather's deep, strong storyteller's voice.

"_Long before the shape shifters came to be, our people were spirit warriors_," his grandfather began. "_We were a small tribe of fishermen, and our fishing grounds were rich. The first spirit warrior was Kahelaha_…" Billy was mesmerized by the familiar words, which were passed down orally from generation to generation. He knew he was expected to listen carefully because one day, as the future chief of his tribe, he would be entrusted with the telling of the legends. He was proud of his heritage, and he wore his hair long just like his grandfather. Some of the students at the reservation school laughed at him, but he figured they were just jealous of his pedigree.

Billy's grandfather was talking about the ancient times when the trouble began with the Makahs. "_Some of their young women had disappeared and they blamed it on the wolves_," Ephraim explained. "_The wolves could read each other's thoughts, and they knew none of them was to blame._"

Billy looked around the circle at the familiar faces, warmed by the crackling fire and lulled by his grandfather's voice. But wait. Who was that, seated almost directly across from him next to his friend Quil? He was pretty sure he'd never seen the pretty, petite girl before - certainly not in school. She was likely hearing the tale for the first time, and all her attention was focused on Ephraim Black. She seemed to sense Billy's scrutiny and glanced his way, but he quickly lowered his gaze.

"_Taha Aki's third wife had just watched her son die. She grabbed a knife from the belt of one of her sons. She knew they would be killed when their father failed_." This was Billy's favorite part of the familiar tale, and he gave his grandfather his undivided attention. "_She ran toward the cold woman with the knife held high. She smiled, having no fear of the old woman. Then the third wife did something completely unexpected._" Billy held his breath, waiting for the collective gasp that always came when the third wife drove the knife into her own heart. He was not disappointed, and too soon, the story was over. When he looked back, the new girl had disappeared.

The next day, on the way to school, Billy stopped for Quil as usual. He didn't waste any time. "Hey - I saw you at the bonfire last night, Quil. Who was that girl you were sitting with?"

"Girl?" Quil wrinkled his nose. "I wasn't sitting with any girl! Oh - you mean my cousin Sarah? She's a freshman. They just moved up here from Oklahoma." He quickly changed the subject, unwilling to concentrate on a lowly freshman now that he and Billy were seniors. Just one more year to get through, and life would really begin! "Hey - you wanna go to the basketball game after school? Watch our team mop the floor with those palefaces from Forks?"

"Uh...sure. Yeah, I'm in," Billy agreed, trying not to show his disappointment. What he really wanted was to hear more about this mysterious cousin.

"Quil! Wait up!" Quil groaned and looked back at his house.

"Oh crap. Don't tell me I'm supposed to walk her to school," he whispered to Billy.

The girl caught up to them, breathless, and smiled shyly up at Billy. She was several inches shorter than he, and she had the most beautiful big brown eyes he'd ever seen. He wasn't sure if she recognized him from the bonfire. "Hey. Quil, your mom said you can show me where the office is." She turned to Billy. "Your grandfather is the chief, right?"

He nodded dumbly, but finally found his voice. "Yeah. I'm Billy. Billy Black."

She had a beautiful smile. "Sarah Wilde. Nice to meet you, Billy" She offered her small hand, dwarfed by his larger one as they solemnly shook.

"Come on, guys - we're gonna be late," Quil whined. He couldn't believe he had to walk his baby cousin to school.

Billy finally found his tongue. "Is your family living with Quil, Sarah?" he asked.

"Just for a couple of weeks until our house gets painted," she explained. "We're moving into the house next door."

"Ahh, the Greene place. Yeah, they moved up to the Makah rez last month." Billy smiled at her, ignoring Quil's frown.

The walk to school was way too short. Quil pointed in the direction of the office, but Billy ignored him. "I'll take you, Sarah. We have plenty of time." Quil stomped off in the opposite direction.

After school, Quil was waiting for Billy. "I got our tickets." He continued in a singsong voice, "Are you still coming, or does Sarah need you to carry her books home?"

Billy punched his shoulder. "Watch it, Ateara. That's the future mother of my future children you're talking about." He grabbed the ticket and jogged toward the gym with his best friend. Quil laughed. Billy didn't.


End file.
